It's Official: Wedge Is M's Manager

The Mariners officially announced Eric Wedge as their seventh manager since 2003 on Monday.
AP FILE PHOTO

Gene J. Puskar

David Aardsma says he doesn’t need a lot from his manager.

“The most interaction I have is when we’re shaking hands after a game,” Aardsma, the Seattle Mariners’ closer the past two years, said with a laugh.

It means the Mariners are winning as long as they’re shaking hands, and Aardsma hopes to do more of that next year with Eric Wedge, who officially became the team’s manager on Monday.

The club announced what had been known since Friday, that the 42-year-old Wedge was general manager Jack Zduriencik’s choice among the five who interviewed for the job. The Mariners won’t announce details of the contract with Wedge, although several media reports said it’s for three years.

Wedge, who will wear No. 22 (the same as fired manager Don Wakamatsu), will appear today at a 1 p.m. news conference at Safeco Field. It will be televised live by FSN.

Wedge becomes the 18th manager in Mariners history and their seventh since Lou Piniella left after the 2002 season.

Besides Wedge, the Mariners also talked with Bobby Valentine, Cecil Cooper, John Gibbons and Lloyd McClendon. They’re all former major league managers, a factor that excites a veteran player like Aardsma.

“Eric brings the energy, passion and leadership that we think is important as we move forward and he has a track record of winning at the major league and minor league levels,” Zduriencik said in a statement.

Unlike the previous two Mariners managers — Wakamatsu, who the Mariners fired Aug. 9, and interim manager Daren Brown for the final 50 games of the season — Wedge has seven seasons of big-league managing experience. He went 561-573 from 2003-09 with the Cleveland Indians, including a 428-382 record from 2004-08, won the American League Central Division in 2007 and was named the AL manager of the year that season.

“When the names started coming out (who the Mariners were interviewing), they were all people with experience,” Aardsma said.

He believes that’s important on a team with an interesting mix of veterans and developing younger players.

“Everybody has to respect his authority, and with the experience and success he has had, there’s no question that we’re going to respect him,” Aardsma said. “I don’t know him personally, but everything I’ve heard about him and know of him, he’s had a lot of success. He’s had some very, very good seasons and very, very good teams. I’m excited.”

Wedge is known as a manager who works well with young players and veterans, and he demands that they all work hard in their preparation.

“I think this is a terrific opportunity and I am excited to be a part of it,” Wedge said in a statement from the Mariners. “With the fan support, the ballpark, the ownership and management, the Mariners are in a great position to be very successful.”

Wedge has demanded accountability in previous jobs, and that approach got him sideways early in his Cleveland career with former Indians outfielder — and current Mariner — Milton Bradley. He demanded in 2004 that the Indians get rid of Bradley or get rid of him, and the team soon traded him to the Dodgers.

The lack of accountability was an issue Wakamatsu often mentioned while the Mariners spiraled into a 101-loss, last-place season this year.

“Eric brings the energy, passion and leadership that we think is important as we move forward,” Zduriencik said in a statement from the team. “He has experience working with both veteran and younger players, and as we move ahead we look forward to his contributions.”

Wedge, who lives in suburban Cleveland with his wife and two children, is a former catcher who played only 39 games at the big-league level with the Red Sox and Rockies.

Among his former teammates in the Red Sox minor league system was Mariners third base coach Lee Tinsley. They’ve known each other since 1994, Tinsley said.

“He’s a diligent worker and he tries to get the most out of you,” Tinsley said. “He kind of resembles who he was as a player. He’s trying to get the best out of himself every day and I think that’s kind of what he expects from the players.”

Tinsley said he hasn’t heard from the club about his status for next year. He, along with other members of the major league staff except first-base coach Mike Brumley, is signed through the end of this month. Brumley is signed through the 2011 season.